Pretty easy going with work availability, the compensation was 'okay'. The work environment is only as good as the manager, in my case good management left for another company and new management was terrible.

Cons

Unrealistic time lines and objectives while meeting budget goals. Would easily beat budget but not be able to keep up with bureaucracy.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Unreal expectations of actual store management/staff. Hours do not align with budgets. If you see a store is crushing their budget but are having trouble keeping it up to speed with transitions then perhaps allocating hours would be a good idea.

Learning retail from the ground up in a store that does party really well. In particular, a good starting place for future event coordinators or doing the seasonal stint at Halloween to learn the ropes of costuming.

Cons

More that most retail environments, Party City is seasonal and does not make any commitment concerning hours. Don't work here if you need a stable income as very few of the staff get this status.

-excellent stories from customers-potential to make friends with coworkers-expand your knowledge of party supplies-party creativity

Cons

Please excuse this long list.

These Cons will represent content that is Relevant and Helpful to the community.

Head Office Excellent staff, very friendly and cooperative. Whenever something was needed for store management, their help was prompt, courteous and appropriate. The President of the company is an excellent leader, role model, was always friendly and made it an effort to smile upon entering a store for a visit. However, the shadow politics and the corruption of processes are something that mar the company on the inside. If an employee would like proper legal representation, seek it outside since some departments fail to uphold the principle of best practices and neutrality. Ask any of the former Party City employees, they will tell you the horror stories.

Upper Management The District managers appear nice, welcoming and try to uphold the image of working together. Their workload may interfere with their better judgment at times, and yet they make up for it with long discussions in the office. They are eager to answer customer emails and phone calls, which follows up with overall great representation for the company. Now on the downside; since this is a site for present employees and former to write reviews for other individuals who are interested in working for the company; to begin with, the Upper Management bypasses Management to appear as a face for the company, and this is part of the game.

Proper representation from the employee's point of view fails on three levels: the first, in order to protect oneself, record your dealings and discussions, since they will be used for your evaluation; the second, have a witness present at all times during positive discipline; and third, do not use the company's resources for representation, you are better off using the government as a proper arbiter in labor disputes.

Management The management of Party City falls into two molds: excellent, social, caring and protective, or incompetent. Most individuals in these positions use their weak ties to become first in line or to convenience operations overall with a secret friendly handshake. That way, when the curtain of politics falls, the betterment of the company appears directly in the 50 shades of Grey.

Other Employees Those handpicked to take on the daily grind of stocking shelves, checking for missing prices, dealing with uncertain and abusive customers, those looking to make a big buck or taking the underpinnings of post-secondary education fill the void.

Compensation The compensation for the amount of hours worked is around minimum wage, and feels even less so for management, since the salary detracts from the hourly wage for every hour over the 37.5 you are supposed to be working for. The benefits are not of the epic quality to speak of, except vacation pay is issued with haste.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

-establish deadlines that make business sense.-factor in all parts of the picture to understand the current state of operation-there is a difference between business and politics-listen to your President-hire business oriented managers, not friendsKeep up the Good work!

Great employee benefits for tenured employees.Promotion of lower level manager positions, team leaders, Assistant Managers are usually conducted from with in.

Cons

No longer looking for a manager who can think and do what is necessary to help a store make money. They would like a cookie cutter manager who only does what is asked. No room for regional or local changes.If you are looking for growth into the upper level of management, District level or above, Party City does a very poor job of promoting from with-in.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

There was a time when managers could make decisions to merchandise cretin product that would turn and generate revenue however now District Managers are so afraid of doing something that was not directed that they do not allow for any change in the layout even if one can show it will generate sales.